TABLET PCS - DIGITAL PEN-BASED TECHNOLOGY USE AND THE IMPACT ON EDUCATING ENGINEERS

The Mechanical Engineering Technology program at XXXXX University offers various lecture and laboratory classes each year, and experience has shown that most students perform well in these classes. However, some students struggle and receive low grades or withdraw in the early stages of their academic career when they first experience courses with high technical content. To address the issue of poor student performance, a study was initiated in 2005 on the use of Tablet PCs in the learning environment. This paper reports on this six year study which has involved multiple classes, instructors and over 400 students. The objective of this experiment was to assess how a technology rich learning environment could help improve student learning in a historically challenging introductory engineering courses. The technology rich learning environment in this project consists of: tablet PCs for each student (1:1 environment), three projection screens, and collaborative digital inking software. In this environment, students can ask questions anonymously, submit to polls, and review the work of others anonymously in the class. Student feedback from this study indicated that students feel more comfortable expressing a lack of understanding anonymously, and therefore are more open to requesting additional guidance and instruction. With the multiple projection screens and collaborative software this learning environment also showed an increased benefit to the deaf and hard of hearing population within the University. One of the specific advantages of the technology rich learning environment discussed in this paper is that the instructor can ‘play back’ submitted student work (along with student erasing/corrections) to understand the process that the student or student group used to solve complex problems, thus shedding light on how students learn. ‘Playing back’ the work presents in a video-like format each digital ink stroke and each correction that marks the step by step process used to solve the problem. This feature also benefited the instructors as they reviewed student work. In reviewing student’s preferences for note taking, test preparation, in class group work, and student engagement the students recommended this technology rich learning environment over traditional computer laboratory lecture environments.